iFi Builds an ESS DAC and Headphone Amp Into the Cable Itself: the $79 GO Cable

iFi Audio has announced the GO Cable, a USB-C lead with a digital-to-analogue converter and a headphone amplifier built into the cable itself. Rather than ending in a 3.5mm or 4.4mm socket for a separate headphone cable, the GO Cable terminates in 0.78mm 2-pin connectors that plug straight into in-ear monitors. The announcement landed on 14 September 2026, with coverage the same day at eCoustics and audioreviews.org.

The premise is subtraction. A typical portable chain today runs phone → USB-C dongle DAC → IEM cable → earphones, with two connectors and a small plastic box dangling somewhere in the middle. The GO Cable folds the dongle into the cable body and deletes the analogue interconnect entirely, leaving one continuous run from the phone's USB-C port to the 2-pin sockets on the earphones. Priced at US$79 (CA$119), it is aimed squarely at people who already own 2-pin IEMs and are tired of managing the middle section of that chain.

What's inside

iFi specifies an ESS Sabre converter in the cable. The company has not published the part number, so "ESS Sabre" is as specific as the sourcing gets. Format support runs to PCM at up to 32-bit/384kHz and native DSD256 — comfortably beyond anything a streaming service delivers, and consistent with what iFi's other compact USB DACs handle.

Inline controls cover volume, play/pause and track skip, and there is an echo-cancelling microphone for calls. That last detail matters more than it might sound: dongle DACs have historically been inconsistent about microphone support, and a cable that terminates in 2-pin has no obvious place to hang a separate headset mic. Putting one on the control pod keeps the GO Cable usable for the thing phones are still nominally for.

iFi also claims a "Dynamic Range Enhancement" feature that the company says adds up to 6dB. That figure comes from iFi and no source in this announcement cycle carries an independent measurement of it, so treat it as a manufacturer specification rather than a verified result.

Nexis app, and an Android caveat

The GO Cable works with iFi's Nexis app for firmware updates and for selecting digital filters. Per eCoustics, Nexis support for this product is Android only. iPhone owners can still use the cable — it is a standard USB-C audio device — but the filter selection and firmware side of the experience is, as announced, an Android affair. That is worth knowing up front given how much of the 2-pin IEM audience is iPhone-based since Apple's switch to USB-C.

The sources also note compatibility with Nintendo Switch 2, which is a sensible fit: a handheld console with a USB-C port, no headphone-out worth using for critical listening, and an audience that increasingly owns decent IEMs.

iFi frames the GO Cable as an offshoot of its existing GO DAC line, with the differentiators being that direct IEM termination and the Nexis integration. Nothing in the announcement suggests it displaces any existing product in the range.

What iFi has not published

For a product whose entire pitch is that it amplifies, the omissions are conspicuous. iFi has not published an output power figure for any load. It has not published an output impedance figure. It has not published a cable length or a weight.

Those first two are the ones that would tell you most. Output power indicates whether the cable can drive a harder-to-drive planar or multi-driver IEM to satisfying levels; output impedance affects how flat the frequency response stays with low-impedance multi-BA earphones, whose impedance curves can swing considerably across the band. Without either number, the honest position is that drive capability is currently unknown, and anyone with a particularly demanding or particularly sensitive set of IEMs has no published basis on which to predict behaviour. We are not going to estimate figures that iFi has not released.

Length and weight are more prosaic but not trivial in a product designed to hang off a phone. A DAC module sited partway along a cable is a mass on a tether, and how that feels in daily use depends on where it sits and how much it weighs — neither of which has been stated.

Connector lock-in

The GO Cable's headline advantage is also its constraint. Because the DAC and amplifier are fused to the cable, the termination is fixed: 0.78mm 2-pin, and only 0.78mm 2-pin. There is no MMCX version announced, no 4.4mm balanced output to feed a different set of earphones, and no way to press the DAC into service for headphones. A conventional dongle keeps its analogue output generic, so it works with anything you plug into it; the GO Cable trades that flexibility for the removal of a connector and a box. Whether that trade suits a given listener depends entirely on how many pairs of earphones they rotate through and what those earphones use.

Price and availability

• GO Cable (standalone): US$79 / CA$119
• Starter Kit (GO Cable bundled with iFi AIRO Astra in-ear monitors): US$99 / CA$149

Both are available through iFi Audio. The Starter Kit's twenty-dollar step up over the standalone cable is the notable line on that list — it bundles a complete source-to-transducer chain for a phone at a price where most listeners would still be shopping for the dongle alone.

No source in this cycle contains listening impressions or measurements, so how the GO Cable performs in practice remains an open question until units reach reviewers. For now, what is on the table is a clearly stated idea — remove the dongle, remove the analogue interconnect, keep the ESS conversion and the inline controls — at a price that puts it in direct conversation with the crowded field of USB-C dongle DACs it is trying to make redundant.

Frequently asked questions

What does the iFi GO Cable cost?

The iFi GO Cable is priced at US$79 or CA$119 on its own. A Starter Kit bundling the GO Cable with iFi AIRO Astra in-ear monitors is US$99 or CA$149. Both are available through iFi Audio, following the product's announcement on 14 September 2026.

Which connector does the iFi GO Cable use for in-ear monitors?

The iFi GO Cable terminates in 0.78mm 2-pin connectors that plug directly into in-ear monitors. The input end is USB-C. There is no separate dongle box and no 3.5mm or 4.4mm jack anywhere in the chain, so the termination is fixed to 0.78mm 2-pin earphones.

What audio formats does the iFi GO Cable support?

The iFi GO Cable supports PCM up to 32-bit/384kHz and native DSD256, handled by an ESS Sabre converter built into the cable body. iFi has not published the specific ESS part number. The sources also state compatibility with the Nintendo Switch 2.

What controls are built into the iFi GO Cable?

The iFi GO Cable carries inline controls for volume, play/pause and track skip, plus a built-in echo-cancelling microphone for calls. It also works with iFi's Nexis app for firmware updates and selectable digital filters, though Nexis support for this product is Android only.

Has iFi published output power figures for the GO Cable?

No. iFi has not published output power for any load, nor output impedance, cable length or weight for the GO Cable. Those first two figures would normally indicate drive capability and behaviour with low-impedance multi-driver IEMs, so drive performance remains unspecified in the launch materials.

This article was written by an AI system from Into The HiFi AI Desk, generated from the following sources, with no human editing pass before publication: eCoustics — iFi GO Cable Puts a DAC and Headphone Amp Inside a USB-C Cable for IEMs, audioreviews.org — Hi-Fi, Hidden In Plain Sight: iFi Introduces The GO Cable, Quest Review Center — iFi transforms portable audio with compact GO cable featuring integrated DAC and controls.